College Costs in Context: A State-by-State Look at College (Un)Affordability

As sticker prices and student debt keep rising, students, families, and the policymakers who represent them are increasingly concerned about college affordability. Although debates about what is or is not affordable tend to focus on dollar figures, even a very low cost can be unaffordable for those with few resources, whereas a far higher dollar […]

Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans

Over the course of the past few decades, student loans have become an increasingly common means of paying for a college education. Most students who complete a college program now take on student loans, and the amount of student debt that students assume has increased along with the price of attending college. At this time […]

Adult Promise Program: a Pilot Design Template for States

The purpose of this document is to assist states interested in implementing a “promise-type” aid program specific to meeting the needs of adult students. It is intended to serve as a playbook to guide states through the implementation and pilot year of such a program. Because SHEEO’s members are the executive directors of the statewide […]

The College Promise in California

“The need for a college-educated workforce in the United States has never been greater. Yet, while access to higher education is ever more important, the cost of higher education has increased dramatically over the last few decades, becoming less accessible to students from low- and middle-income families. College Promise programs help address the need for […]

Sustainable Funding Models: Privately-Funded Models

Postsecondary education has come to assume an increasingly central role in American life. Nearly 66% of high school graduates enroll in college within 12 months of high-school graduation (Snyder, de Brey & Dillow, 2016), while millions of adults attend college classes to complete a certificate or degree program, retool their job skills, prepare for new […]

College Promise Campaign Annual Report

The College Promise Campaign Annual Report celebrates the tremendous growth in College Promise programs in the first year since the Campaign launched. Through communications, advocacy, leadership development, cross- sector engagement, and research, the Campaign has encouraged a national movement in communities and states to make a community college education within reach for eligible hardworking students […]

“Supporting the College Promise” Toolkit

College Promise Campaign partner organizations the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) put together a toolkit to guide advocating for a Promise program on campus. Download

Making Public Colleges Tuition Free: A Briefing Book for State Leaders

America’s future prosperity and its citizens’ access to opportunity depend on increasing educational opportunities beyond high school for all students. Public education has always been principally a joint state-community effort. Once again, states led by visionary Governors and community leaders are responding to the need to expand public education for their residents. The case for […]

Understanding College Promise Programs

Promise Nation: Transforming Communities through Place Based Scholarships

By Michelle Miller Adams, from the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Kalamazoo, Michigan. This book gives an overview of the development of the Promise movement nationwide and research on the impacts of such programs. Download